Double Suns - Twisted Mirrors: Episode I

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ISBN: 9781483597799

DOUBLE SUNS – TWISTED MIRRORS

BY

CHARLEY BLACKWOLF

BRIEF

There was an abundance of life on the planets when the flickering of the star first signaled the beginning of its death. It was soon to become a time of hopelessness when many poor souls watched in despondence as shadows began to dance across the face of their sun. Covered in rags against the freezing cold many began desperately praying to their gods for deliverance from the unfeeling cruelty of lives to be lost. Some among them said it was the apocalypse—the coming of the final end. These self-proclaimed prophets said the people had sinned and now they must pay. They said that when the sun exploded there would no longer be bodies for their souls to inhabit and their essence would be forced to drift aimlessly, lost forever in the blackness of the universe. The people cried out their misery, but to no avail, for stars, like all other things, must eventually die. But, then, there are always the few who survive and it is among them that the true prophet arose. In time fate saw to it that a simple, vulgar man who was part machine would come from afar to walk among those whose fathers had escaped the dying star. He spread death but yet gave them back the genetics they would need to carry on their species and righted many wrongs that had been done. Yet, in the end, he too would fail in the face of female jealously.

INDEX

Forward

Chapter 1 - The Beginning

Chapter 2 - Reports of the Explorations

Chapter 3 - Sarah’s Arrival on Sorn

Chapter 4 - The Search Begins

Chapter 5 - Billy Jackson

Chapter 6 - Silack and the Sandu

Glossary

Author

FORWARD

There was an abundance of life on the planets when the flickering of the star first signaled the beginning of its death. Many looked upward in despondence and desperately prayed for deliverance from the unfeeling cruelty of the darkening star as shadows begin to dance across its face.

They called their sun Tannex and while it slowly wound its way across the many horizons it seemed to twist in a crippled path as though it were a great wounded beast struggling against their skies. The fear grew with each rising and setting and the people cried out to their gods in misery, but to no avail, for stars, like all other things, must eventually die.

There were among them those who sang sad songs and told the saddest tales of woe. These self- proclaimed soothsayers told any who would listen … and there were many … of how in the end, the star would erupt and cover their worlds in searing, radioactive gases and how in a single, blinding flash they would all be gone.

Holding high the books of scriptures these prophets of doom stood on nearly every street corner, atop buildings and shouted out that past sins must now be repaid and that this would be the end … a final death for them all.

They said that they would be gone forever for without bodies for rebirth their souls would be doomed to drift through the blackness of the universe for all time never again knowing the sweetness of life, the laughter of a child or the smell of a flower.

But … as in all times of survival, there were those who didn’t listen. A few that were different … those that still held out in hope and refused to give up. Among them a race of warriors that lived on the third planet from the sun, a world called Finakka. Throughout time eternal when it comes to survival the brutal truth is it’s not about who is right, only who is left.

The Finakkans were a technical society, well-schooled in the sciences and in waging of war. A race staunch in belief and durable in purpose, they took heart and became determined to surmount the impending tragedy and began searching throughout the galaxies for another world to call their own.

Additionally, their scientific and engineering communities madly scrambled to develop super-heavy, transfermium elements with extra-strength external magnetic fields along with the computer control technology that could provide them an exit gateway and paths to these distant worlds.

Much of their energy in searching for an exit gate was focused on a constellation with a blue-white giant as its brightest star. A star with the extreme gravitational fields necessary to amplify nuclear magnetic fields provided by transfermium elements and serve to fold space and time in on itself.

This star was known as Alpha Lupi. Alpha Lupi along with a set of opposing stars on the opposite side of the galaxy called the Anteres star pair would provide the bending of space necessary for space-time transient and represented their best chance of survival.

CHAPTER 1

THE BEGINNING

The central chamber of the Finakkan High Council was quiet now, the silence broken only by the sigh of the freezing wind in its dance across the frosted window panes. Surrounding the table of debate, its hard wood edges polished bright by the rest of many hands, sat the five most senior of the two hundred council members. Finally one spoke. Can we be sure of his calculations?

Shifting the white robes that represented his position of political authority the Vice-council answered, Well at this point I think it’s really difficult to say. That’s why I’ve brought in Doctor Wesrack. He motioned toward the individual in the tightly buttoned dusty blue jacket. Doctor Wesrack holds a doctorate in mathematics and is currently a professor of theoretical physics at the University of Plann-terrid. He has also written a number of papers discussing the possibility of this type of event. Nodding in the professor’s direction, he said, Welcome, Professor. I have an idea you’re exhausted.

Smiling back through his long white beard Professor Wesrack answered, Yes, Yes I am. He placed his briefcase on the table, flipped it open and sighed, A trip up from the Southern Hemisphere on a suborbital overnight flight is not something I can recommend.

While the professor squeezed himself in between two of the heavy chairs and then sat at the end of the table, one of the Council members spoke. Have you had the opportunity to review his calculations?

Half hidden behind an open brief case, Professor Wesrack shuffled through a pile of papers, withdrew a small, black hand-held projector and replied, Not in detail, but I can tell you that on the surface they appear correct. Also, even though Doctor Janaax is better known in most circles for his abrasive personality than his ability.

Before he could finish one of the councilors on the panel broke in, especially among the political and legal figures. Right, Gorger? What was that he called you—a parasite?

The man referred to as Gorger smiled, Not exactly Council Takow. It was my understanding that he was actually referring to all political figures when he said politicians were `parasites that fed off the labors of the people’ especially those like yourself who were appointed rather than elected to office.

Professor Wesrack looked up to see Council Takow’s eyes blaze in anger. He chuckled softly, drew in a deep breath and then ignoring the interruption went on, Well yes, Council DeBarrak, to put it mildly Doctor Janaax is outspoken, particularly in the areas of large central governments and the amount of funding they require. But in his field he should not be taken lightly. I knew him when he was in the Astronomy Department at South Chaddix University, and despite the fact that he was always in some sort of disfavor due to his very candid political views, I assure you, that in the science of stars he is exceptionally brilliant. As you may or may not know, he began this work as part of a research grant at Carto-terris.

Pausing, he held up to the light several photographic slides and then carefully placed them inside the projector. "I should point out the information from our recent solar probes do support his theories as there is a definite absence of corona activity and solar spotting. This may indicate that normal solar cycles have for one reason or another been suspended. It would also explain the change in meteorological patterns and the unusually cold weather we’ve had for the past several centons.

My concern is what would happen if this became general knowledge among the population. The apparent development of an unstable nucleus in Tannex is very serious business, particularly when the progression of the star into a red giant is predicted to take place in less than a generation.

A half smile locked on his face, Council DeBarrak replied to his statement. We share your concern regarding the release of this information on a general basis Professor, and please be assured that the members of this council are aware of what is good for the people and have taken the necessary steps to ensure that anything that might be regarded as an official release is conducted under very strictly controlled conditions. So far as we can determine, what now exists among the general populace has been regarded as simply the muttering of an old and eccentric scientist. What we are trying to establish is whether or not he could be wrong. That, sir, is why we brought you here.

Although feeling his sense of anger rise at Council DeBarrak’s rebuff Professor Wesrack forced himself to smile back. He sensed danger, DeBarrak had many friends among the academic community and though most of them were second rate in their fields, several had been appointed to positions of authority by this very council and could cause him great harm. Cautious now, and with his mind carefully shielded against telepathic transmission he thought, Yes, and Adan was not too far off about you and your lust for political power either, was he Gorger DeBarrak? If it wasn’t for your wife’s abilities you would have failed long ago! It must cause you great anguish to know that there is one among us will never bow to you and your stupid committees. I only wish I were brilliant enough not to have to do so myself. Then, composing himself he answered, Oh, absolutely Council. This sort of thing is not an exact science, and I think that even he will tell you that he can’t say exactly when the end will come.

But, Doctor Wesrack Council DeBarrak pressed, Do you agree that this will occur I mean, do you think it will come in the next generation or so?

Well … sighed the professor, "we have known for some time that Tannex was close to the end of its primary sequence. That’s part of why Dr. Janaax was doing his research at Carto-terris, but until now we were of the general opinion in the scientific community that it would remain in a stable condition for at least another fifty thousand centons.

"Doctor Janaax is the first to challenge this, and if, and I mean if in the most extreme sense, his experimental data correlates with his predictions, then the star’s nucleus is headed toward a runaway reaction that will tear the central sections of the star apart. Now assuming this does take place, the dissociation of the nucleus will only last a few nina-parts, but during that time the geometry of the star will change dramatically."

Professor Wesrack, one of the council members asked, do I understand you to say that Tannex is going to explode? Go nova?

No, Tannex lacks sufficient mass to do so. Pushing his chair back from the table, he stood and said, Here let me give you an idea of what I’m talking about. His white beard swung as he took the small hand-held projector and pointed it toward the center of the room. He clicked a small switch on top of it and about a foot above the surface of the table a three dimensional picture of a bright yellow-orange ball appeared. In suspension it slowly floated in front of them as a circular cauldron with flames of red and gold leaping from its surface. He paused for a moment, and then he quickly clicked through several pictures to another star. The image grew several times in size and became whitish-blue in color. It took a moment for the focus to clear, and then as it settled in he said, Before you is a recent satellite picture of a giant star, taken by the SAT-KIT space probe that was sent to study the stars in the constellation Centauran. As you may be aware the first image was from a standard textbook picture of Tannex. In comparison this particular star, its name is Agana, is many times larger than Tannex and vastly different in color. Agana is what astronomers call a giant blue star. It derives its color from the extremely high heat at its surface and due to its size is the type of star that is most likely to nova. Our observations show that a nova will only occur with stars like this one that are roughly ten times the mass of Tannex.

He stopped and set the projector on the table, it was still on and the star image became positioned above them at a crazy angle so that it seemed to grow out of the wall at a point where the white marble met the red and white checkered ceiling. He opened his brief case and dug through several file folders. Finally he found what he was looking for and held up a sketch showing a graph and a series of mathematical equations. I know this doesn’t show much, but you see the line here? The one to the right. What this signifies is that stars with less mass than Agana but still several times larger than Tannex usually collapse inside themselves. This too is a much different situation than what we are faced with and represents an entirely different set of circumstances. But, as you will see later could play an important part in the scenario we are facing. We have found that the way a star uses its fuel is very mass-dependent and herein lies the basis for the theories proposed by Doctor Janaax.

Again he paused, picked up the projector and pointed it so the image of Agana reappeared in its original position. He clicked the selector switch several times and returned to the picture of Tannex. I apologize councilors, he said taking a tiny needle-like pointer from his pocket, but in order for you to gain an understanding and appreciate the perils of the situation Doctor Janaax is going to present, I’m afraid I am going to have to assume the posture of a university lecturer for the next few moments. It may be painful, but please endure this brief technical discussion. He paused and smiled. For those of you who may not well versed in the study of stars, I assure you it is necessary, for you see Dr. Janaax will start his lecture assuming you have read all of his papers and are completely familiar with stellar physics and astronomy. Without some background knowledge in this area it is very likely that you will quickly become completely lost.

He took the pointer and placed it in the projector so that a narrow dark shadow of its point rested at the center of the image floating above the table. He moved it in and out several times to ensure that its point would reach all areas across surface of the projected reproduction of the star, returned it to the center and said, In the relationship between stars and their mass, what appears to happen is that at about two and a half times Tannex’s mass a star moves with relative ease from burning hydrogen to helium. Below that this situation is somewhat more obscure. He slowly moved the pointer to each side of the projected picture saying, Currently the solar probes launched from our satellites show a definite flattening at the poles accompanied by a series of equatorial bulges, in these areas here. These are called the Stars Alpha Constants and what Janaax is saying, is that the change in them indicates that Tannex is beginning to undergo a series of unrepressed internal oscillations.

He paused, looked along the table at the council members and then went on, his predictions are that these oscillations are of sufficient magnitude and frequency that they will eventually become un-dampened, that is, they will grow progressively worse and will eventually reach a point where the core and central sections will undergo a succession of violent eruptions. Taking a step back he refocused the picture, moved the pointer to the center and said, It is thought that this is being brought about due to a shrinking nuclear core that is causing pressure to build up and a corresponding temperature increase in the very center of the star.

He looked up for a moment, saw a succession of blank faces and felt that perhaps even this simple level of technical conversation was a bit beyond the background of the politically orientated council members. He stopped, then said, well, let me back up and explain, what you have in stars is basically a balance between the forces produced by the nuclear furnace and gravity. These forces are mass-dependent and it actually appears to be a quite delicate situation, more so than we had originally thought.

Again he searched along the faces for some sign that might acknowledge understanding. When none came he struggled with thoughts of how to make the discussion even more basic. Then, sort of giving up the idea, he looked down at his notes and the droning voice he often used with his students in the lecture halls continued on, The majority of a star’s life is spent on what is known as the primary sequence. The entry point to the primary sequence depends on the star’s initial mass at formation. This in turn dictates the predominance or lack of certain materials in its makeup, what sort of nuclear reactions it will undergo, its ability to generate energy and therefore its brightness and life span.

On his right he noticed that one of the council members, one of the most senior with a long trailing white beard, seemed to have dozed off. Smiling inwardly he thought to himself, It appears I haven’t lost my touch. He raised his volume of his voice a bit to see if he could get any response, In our case, he paused—the man still slept soundly. "Tannex at its formation had a high content of hydrogen, and has, over the past meg-centons of our solar system’s existence, used that element as its primary source of fuel.

During its time on the primary sequence a star burns hydrogen fuel steadily and only sees minimal changes in brightness and temperature. Until recently, the surface temperature of Tannex was about six thousand grades and the core was predicted to be approximately fourteen million grades. In the past, minimal changes have occurred, and this indicated stable internal nuclear conditions as the star used its fuel to produce energy.

He heard a scraping noise and looked up to see that the old one who had been napping had nearly fallen out of his chair. Several of the others were nudging each other and scowling disapproval at their companion’s lack of attention. He mumbled quietly to himself, Rest well my friend for I have put many far younger than you in much deeper sleep. Then he went on, "In concept you might think of a star as kind of huge bladder that balances two countervailing forces—the gravity that tugs it constantly towards collapse and the outward pressure created by the thermonuclear conversion of